


By Any Other Name

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF
Genre: Angst and Feels, Arguing, Developing Relationship, Dinner, Embarrassment, Emotional Baggage, Eventual Happy Ending, Explanations, Family Dinners, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Good Days, Introspection, Loneliness, Mid-Canon, Mistakes, Multiple Selves, Post-Divorce, Public Humiliation, Reveal, Running Away, Self-Esteem Issues, Surprises, reassurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 18:56:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15149687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: Jameson has called Chase his father twice before, but not under the best of circumstances, not when the time was right. A slip of the tongue at the dinner table brings the tally up to three, but maybe this one can end better than the last two.





	By Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

> A user on Tumblr inquired, I couldn't resist. I figured it was about time to give them their defining moment where Jameson calls him his dad when he's _not_ half-delirious from a near-death experience! Enjoy!

He had heard it twice before. Jameson had called him his father twice before and while both of them were equally precious to him, neither were in the context he had subconsciously hoped for.

The first had been with his Father’s Day gift, the beautiful silver watch that Jameson had either made or bought for him; Chase had never asked which. It was engraved, the first line being  _“For the finest friend and father.”_  It had brought the warmest of tears to his eyes, his heart burning in his chest with the kind of love that he had never felt for anyone but Connor and Brianna. Even so, he had only opened the gift when he was alone, waking up from an intoxicated sleep. Jameson hadn’t gotten to see him read it.

The second had been after he saved Jameson’s life. It turned out that because he hadn’t been around as long as the others, he had no way of knowing how to swim. When Chase found him unconscious in the deep end of the pool, he launched into action without a thought. If Jameson had died, he would have too; he had felt that for certain. By the time Jem came back, he’d been without air for too long. He’d been delirious, curling up against Chase on the deck. He’d thanked him, called him his dad without realizing, and when he’d woken in the hospital he’d completely forgotten. Chase wasn’t about to remind him; he had to focus on his recovery.

Chase was well aware that Jameson thought of him as a father, just as Chase thought of him as a son. He’d told Jameson that to his face. “You’re my son now.” The amazement and joy in Jameson’s face had been everything Chase had hoped for, but he wanted Jameson to be comfortable with it. If he was honest, he would be more than happy if Jameson stopped calling him by his name altogether.

Jameson, however, didn’t seem to realize it. He seemed quite determined to call him every possible nickname  _except_  the one he wanted and over time, Chase had to convince himself not to hold him to such standards. There was an understanding between them and that was enough. He didn’t need to have anyone call him by the title to hold it.

Since the business with Jack’s coma had started, however, Stacy had been letting him see the kids less and less. She could sense that something was terribly wrong in their household, despite the facades they put up in their everyday lives, and she didn’t want Brianna and Connor anywhere near it. Honestly, Chase couldn’t blame her.

That meant that it had been a long time since he’d heard it—a  _long_ time. He couldn’t bring himself to tally up the months; if he bothered, it would just open up the fissure in his chest that he had worked very hard to sew closed. Therefore he deliberately, methodically worked to keep the longing for it centered in the back of his mind with the door shut. All he could do was enjoy whatever Jameson felt comfortable with giving him and give everything he had in return.

Today had been an incredibly busy day; he’d spent it filming three new stunt videos so he could stock up and they could be coming out on Bro Average even while he was filling in on Jack’s channel and when they’d come to the very last of the videos, he had made the decision to bring Jameson back on. It was the first time he had since the concussion incident and as soon as Chase got around to asking Jameson if he would be willing to try something new again, the youngest Ego had been ecstatic. They needed to make new memories together and it was the perfect opportunity. Everything went off without a hitch and now that they were back at home with the others, Jameson couldn’t stop talking about it. Given that he was the only one in the group who could physically talk with his mouth full, he dominated the conversation.

 **“I was able to have my first crack at using those firearm contraptions that Chase works with, the ones with the soft ammunition, and after having a few rounds with it I was able to make the farthest shot!”**  Judging by how fast he was talking, he was just a  _little_  excited; his speech slides were practically dancing in midair, drawing broad grins from the others.

“Not even Chase has managed that very often!” Jackieboy reminded him after swallowing his spaghetti, to which Jameson nodded eagerly.

**“I’ve never been one for firearms, as you know, but eventually Chase convinced me and it was exhilarating! I do hope I’ll be able to practice with them more often!”**

“It would probably come in handy sometime,” Marvin commented offhandedly as he lifted his drink, earning a small warning tap with Schneep’s elbow as the doctor leaned across the table to pat Jameson’s hand.

“We’re all quite proud of you, Jamie,” he assured him affectionately. “Chase most of all, I expect!”

“Of course!” Chase agreed fervently. “I knew he was ready for it—but even if he hadn’t been, I’m always proud of him!”

Squirming shyly at that, Jameson hunched his shoulders, twirling his fork through his meal as his smile softened.  **“Thank you, Da.”**

Marvin choked on the sip of water he was taking, Schneep reeled back in his chair and Jackieboy automatically clamped his hands to his armrests as if to steady himself through a tremor.

As soon as he rechecked his words, Jameson stiffened, the speech slide fading gradually out of sight and draining all the color from his face with it. Clearly he was just as taken aback by it as they were, if not more so. Chase, meanwhile, simply stared at him, his mouth hovering somewhere between a fallen jaw and a trembling smile as all the emotion behind the door in the back of his mind slid through the crack underneath, lodging in his throat as it poured into his chest.

“Jem—” he began, unsure of exactly what he would say, but Jameson’s fork clattered against the plate with a strident clang, interrupting him as the gentleman lunged to his feet, nearly knocking over his chair in the process.

 **“Oh, look at this—look at the mess I’ve made of my t-trousers,”**  he hurried to exclaim, looking a little sick.  **“A full d-day of gallivanting about will do that, I need to go and change s-so if you’ll—if you’ll pardon me—”**

“Jamie?” Schneep called worriedly after him, only spurring him on as he all but sprinted down the hall.

Cursing softly, Chase promptly threw his napkin onto the table and scrambled to follow, flinching a little as he heard Jameson’s door slam with more force than was probably intended. He did manage to jostle it back open and maneuver inside before it could be locked, though, forcing Jameson to back up and bury his face in his hands.

 **“No, no, no, no, no, no, no—”**  he moaned, shaking his head violently as his ears turned scarlet.

“Jem, what’s the problem?” Chase demanded directly as he nudged the door shut behind him. “Why’d you run out like that?”

**“I called you my da! Oh, heavens, I can’t believe I—I—I didn’t _mean_  to!”**

“That doesn’t answer my question!” Chase countered. “I’ve told you I consider you a son, remember? You didn’t mind then! What’s so wrong about you callin’ me your dad?!”

 **“Well, it’s a _childish_  name!”** Jameson burst out, flinging his hands to his sides so Chase could see the humiliation, shame and dismay in his face.  **“I’m not a little britches! I’m meant to—to act with some measure of discretion and decorum! I should have been watching my tongue, it just—it just slipped out! Mercies, what will the others think?!”**

“What does it matter what they think? This is something between the two of us,” the older Ego protested.

 **“Yes, it was meant to be! I never meant to call you that _in front_ of them!”** Shoulders slumping, Jameson stared at him, the picture of despair.  **“They’re so—they’re all so well-renowned and respected, Chase. Jackieboy Man is the city’s hero; they adore him. Marvin has crowds that are in awe of him, who throw flowers quite literally at his feet. Dr. Schneeplestein is one of the best surgeons this side of—anywhere! Patients _beg_  for his treatment.”**

“Okay…?” Chase prompted, unsure of where this was going.

Sighing deeply, Jameson lowered his gaze to the floor, his speech slide wavering shamefully as he continued.  **“They’re the very picture of upstanding, respectable men. I—I admire them greatly, more than I could ever say. How can they possibly consider treating me with the same respect when they think of me as a child? Jackieboy ruffles my hair like a six-year-old boy. Marvin thinks I can’t fend for myself. Dr. Schneeplestein still refers to me as ‘ _the little one_ ’. And now I compound that way of thinking by calling you my  _Da_.”**  Swallowing hard, he only glanced up at Chase for a moment before bowing his head even farther.  **“And even if it was unintended, I-I meant it quite genuinely. So perhaps I am as childish as they suppose.”**

“Jem, listen to me,” Chase ordered, closing the distance and latching onto his shoulders before he could recoil further. “You should look up to them, okay? You should! But that doesn’t mean you should try to change who you are or watch what you say around them because of what they might think! I’ve known them a lot longer than you have and I know how they act when they don’t respect someone. That back there? You just surprised them! They were probably more surprised by the way you reacted than by the fact that you said it!”

Jameson still didn’t look up, fidgeting between his hands, and Chase gave his arms a firmer squeeze as he lowered his voice. “Jameson. Jackieboy ruffles my hair all the time. He does it to everyone; he does it to Jack himself. Marvin thinks we could all be better trained; it’s just because he worries. It’s to reassure himself that we’re gonna be safe, not to put you down. And Schneep, sometimes he just gets sick of English and of needing to check his pronunciation of our names. He  _still_  stumbles over pronouncing ‘Jackieboy’, so he calls him ‘Jackie’ or ‘the hero’. And you wanna know why he calls you ‘the little one’? Hmm? It’s because that’s what he used to call me, and he knows I think of you as my son.”

Mustache twitching uncertainly, Jameson peeked up at him, and it struck Chase then that Jameson  _was_  young—for all of his propriety and tradition, he was  _startlingly_  young, a mere nine months old in the community’s time. The vlogger did his best to mask his sudden surge of protectiveness at the realization, though if the hug he pulled Jameson into was tighter than usual, JJ would probably put it down to the emotion behind their conversation.

“You say exactly what you need to say,” he murmured. “If they disagree, believe me, they will give you the respect of pulling you aside and  _telling_  you.” He waited then, hoping against hope that everything he had said would get through to him. After what felt like centuries, Jameson’s arms lifted and he hugged him back. Breathing a sigh of relief, keeping his voice soft so it wouldn’t betray the catch in his throat, he concluded, “And I…y’know, calling me that…That’s all I’ve wanted to hear you say.”

Jameson’s hands tightened on his back then and Chase felt what tension remained in him slowly bleed away. He could feel the heat in Jameson’s face return as he tucked it more firmly into his shoulder, his speech slide hovering tentatively behind him.

**“…Thank you, Da…Is that—is that the form of ‘Father’ you prefer? Do you want to be called something else?”**

Because Jameson couldn’t see his face, the older Ego felt free to let the tears prick his eyes as he laughed, his tone tender. “Any of them. I’ll answer to any of them.”


End file.
